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Title: The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
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Manufacturer: Vintage
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| The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage Not Quite Moral | Robin Wright is a prolific writer in the field of evolutionary psychology and a staunch supporter of New Darwinianism. In his ground breaking book, "The Moral Animal", Wright sheds light on various innate human behaviors through the prism of natural selection and cognitive psychology. He discusses origins of many peculiar tendencies such as advantages of low self esteem, self deception, the nature of monogamy in men and women, office politics, kin selection etc., all deeply rooted at the subconscious level.
In exploring morality, Wright expresses his cynical view that the road to success is paved with self serving intentions. Success is defined as passing on one's genes as far and wide into the future as possible. He postulates any tendency to gain an advantage in this endeavor, however selfish, is favored by natural selection. The goal of the supposed "moral animal" is to act as selfishly as possible while simultaneously appearing selfless to his or her peers.
In the later chapters, Wright temporarily abandons his cynical view of morality and introduces the reader to his idea of non-zero-sumness and utilitarianism: Small sacrifices on behalf of individuals resulting in larger gains for others will leave everyone better off, including the individual, and therein lies the compelling reason for moral behavior.
While Darwin's natural selection has remained an unproven theory, albeit with increasingly strong evidence pointing to its validity, Wright discloses in the appendix his bias of using natural selection to explain all human behavior, including everything that has been explained so far and "the rest". He speaks of a "faith" in the theory, which is a recipe for overreaching observations.
Despite Wright's own bias in using Darwin's life and theories constantly to explain anything and everything, his arguments are expressed in a cogent and plausible manner, and will give any reader plenty of ideas to ponder. | | The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage A self-help book | If you are a modern woman, educated with all the equalitarism lectures, professional, qualified, and have gone through a life very much like that of the girls of "Sex and the City", put your Cosmo aside and read this book. It may shock you, it may even infuriate you but it may help you to understand why certain past relationships did not work, what people thinks of you and it will provide you with a general dynamucs of human relations.
It's not like you are going to accept that every person in the world follows the behavior patterns exposed here but it helps you to comprehend why some people do (even though they preached and believed on exactly the opposite attitudes) and, moreover, once you accept these patterns underlie most human motivations you can use this knowledge for your own benefit... I got a ring on my finger out of it... as well as great success as a HR manager...
And the gossip about Darwin's life is quite interesting too... | | The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage A very interesting point of view | | A series of hypothesis and theories, always supported by a scientific presentation of evidence found in other works on the relevant subjects. A very interesting insight in the human nature, in the relationship between men and women, with special regard to the driving forces which influence the human behaviour (sexual desire, greed, hunt for power and wealth etc.). | | The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage Great Style and Openness | Here is a lively discussion of evolutionary psychology and what it means for our views on human morality. Robert Wright has a very good writing style and a way of explaining EP that aids even those of us who have already read widely on the subject. Here he also uses Darwin's own life and experiences to illustrate the subject.
The first section is about the sexes which, contrary to what some people might think, does not present men with anything to be proud of. It does show us why both sexes are a disappointment to each other. Wright overemphasizes female 'monogamy', as many writers do, when promiscuity should really be presented as more relative than the good for men/bad for women dichotomy. There is still much to be debated in this area but Wright does try to cover the subject as broadly as he can. I certainly don't see him as deliberately shying away from any aspect that may be relevant to the discussion. We just need much more input from female evolutionary psychologists to get the bigger picture.
The second section covers sociality - kin selection, reciprocal altruism - and the evolution of emotions, such as gratitude, obligation, guilt, frienship, that aid or aided us in our inclusive fitness maximization behavior. Section three is about hierarchy and status and how we 'deceive ourselves in order to deceive others better'. Wright puts together an interesting whole which meshes genetic and environmental determinisms with developmental and behavioral plasticity and flexibility. Not forgetting how this evolved in an environment we no longer live in and is therefore always potentially maladaptive. Perhaps he only just manages to get away with it!
The final section is a focus on morality. Wright reveals himself, and Darwin, as utilitarians. This obviously will sit best with those readers who are also utilitarians or at least, like myself, have a soft spot for J S Mill and Utilitarianism. Wright is not afraid to discuss how problematic morality can be for EP. 'The situation is, in short, a mess' he admits at one point. But most evolutionary psychologists agree with Wright that out evolved instincts for survival as social beings gives most of us a sense of how to behave in what we term a moral way.
It would be possible to argue with many things in this book but it is so successful in getting the general ideas across and facing the problems that arise from these ideas that disagreement with some of the actual content is almost irrelevant. It should not be the only book read on EP but it deserves to be one of the first. It has a great style and an essential openness and honesty. | | The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage A very readable and fun book on Evolutionary Psychology | This was one of my first books on the topic - and to this day I find it one of the most thoroughly enjoyable and eye opening books for laymen in this field, like myself.
Robert Wright has written a very engaging and well organized book in explaining why we behave the way we do. Citing Darwin's own life through the chapters to illustrate the points of Darwinism was a brilliant idea and fun to read. Most part of the book explains viewing 'morality' (or the lack of it), in biological terms. It doesn't draw any lessons out of the story, in a way advocating to accept (our) human nature the way it is. The last few chapters, however, start drawing some conclusions and 'lessons' on morality which get rather flaky (e.g.: that a woman murdering a husband for self-defence should be punished as a lesson to others for the 'greater common good'), and frankly, annoying -- in particular as the end of such a great book.
Overall, it is still a must read for all those curious and intelligent souls out there who understand that self-awareness is the first step towards real happiness. | | The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage Product Description | | Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics--as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies. Illustrations. | | The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology by Vintage Amazon.com | | An accessible introduction to the science of evolutionary psychology and how it explains many aspects of human nature. Unlike many books on the topic,which focus on abstractions like kin selection, this book focuses on Darwinian explanations of why we are the way we are--emotionally and morally. Wright deals particularly well with explaining the reasons for the stereotypical dynamics of the three big "S's:" sex, siblings, and society. |
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